The Balance between Outreach and Fellowship
Every four years during the summer Olympic Games, there is an event called the balance beam. You’re probably familiar with the event. The beam is a piece of wood that is four inches wide and twelve feet long, perched forty-two inches off the ground. The allure of watching this Olympic sport is the amazing feats of balance the athletes display while performing their routines. The best athletes have trained to the point where they look comfortable as they jump, twirl and flip through the air on the narrow beam. The truly outstanding performers do all this and “stick the landing” as the crowd roars its approval.
In a small group environment there is a similar balancing act. The balancing act that every group should work to achieve is the exhortation from Christ to keep our eyes on the harvest fields (Matthew 9:36–38) and the goal to develop community in every group (John 13:34–35).
If you have led a group for any length of time, you know that balancing between outreach and in-reach requires the skills of an Olympian. Here are some pointers to accomplish this from a teammate who has fallen off the balance beam (of mission and comfort) more than a few times.
Covenant
As your group is forming, make sure you create a group covenant. The covenant should include things like availability, commitment, confidentiality and goals for outreach and multiplication (this is discussed in chapter 23). From day one, make sure group members understand that one of the purposes of the group is to reach out to friends, family members, coworkers and neighbors as well as caring for group members.
Prayer
Strategically invest time during your meetings to pray for local people who have yet to trust Christ. Additionally, make sure there is at least one empty chair in your circle so your group can see that you have room for new group members.
Multiplication
One final suggestion is to periodically talk about multiplication. Remind your group members that the natural progression of life, no matter how painful, is to birth new life. Remind your group that the group exists to win people to Christ and to help them grow in Christ, but ultimately it is to help people join Jesus on His mission of announcing the good news of the gospel!
Once a group is established, the strategic-minded leader will attempt to accomplish the “one another” commands which result in biblical community. Developing community, however, can quickly degenerate to being overly comfortable. Comfort is a by-product of taking one’s eyes off the harvest fields. It happens easily enough. All one has to do is stop looking outward and sure enough, he or she will gravitate toward a stagnant often state called “us four and no more.”
Maintaining the Balance Requires Practice
Much like the Olympic athlete, the accomplished leader will develop to the point where reaching new people, incorporating them into the group and developing leaders is made to look easy. Disciplined leaders “stick the landing” and multiply the group, while balancing, back and forth, between mission and comfort. Your twofold goal is to bring your members together so they can grow and reach out to others with the good news of the gospel.
Action Points and Questions to Consider:
- In what ways are you helping your members develop biblical community and become friends between meetings? Jot down your thoughts here.
- What can you do in the next few weeks to cast a vision for reaching out to bring balance to your group? (Use the next page to write out your ideas.)
- If ideas don’t come to mind, consider asking your group to brainstorm with you.
